The
Art of Red Nails The novella Red Nails
is the last story that Robert E. Howard wrote about his most famous creation,
Conan the Barbarian, and it is considered by many to be among his best. It was
illustrated when published in 1936 in the magazine Weird Tales by the infamous
Margaret Brundage, who painted one of her very sexy-kitschy covers, and by Harold
S. De Lay in traditional interior pen-and-ink drawings. Eventually it was collected
in book form, beautifully designed and illustrated by George Barr.

Years
later, award-winning artist Greg Manchess drew and painted many of its scenes
for The Conquering Sword of Conan. With the exception of Brundage, these illustrators
faithfully reflected Howard's text, but their images pale next to those that appeared
in the comic book adaptation. It was done by the original team that was in charge
of the Conan comics: Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. They had already adapted
other Howard tales for the comic book Conan the Barbarian. Since this series was
presented in chronological order, it featured a young Conan at the beginning of
his fictional career. Red Nails takes place much later and presents us with a
mature version of the character.. . It also.........................introduces
one of Howard's fierce warrior women, Valeria of the .....................Red
Brotherhood. This well-matched pair slashes their way across a
...........................story where Howard poured some of his very best
ideas when ..........................he was at the
height of his powers as an exhilarating storyteller.